Modern
by hysteriaa
Summary: Lily Evans hated nothing more than being near five feet of a special, arrogant boy. What happens when Dumbledore decides these two needs to bond, for the whole of the holidays? [JAMES LILY]
1. If the doors had locks

**Modern**

_-Blows trumpet- LALALA! TOOOT!_

_Presenting, the one and only **Modern** written by CAT (hysteriaa) and NL (Selistic)! _

_Please hold your applause everyone, till the end of the story. _

_**DISCLAIMER**: Yep. Cat owns half of it, while NL owns the other half. We secretly wrote Harry Potter along with J.K Rowling, except we let Jo get all the credit. We are billionaires too! And we have these strange desires to rule the world, and push everyone off a cliff. _

_Tell me you didn't believe that. _

Chapter One: If the doors had locks (Written by NL)

Lily hummed happily as she slid slowly into the bathtub, shivering as the hot water overlapped her. She sighed blissfully, her eyes closing in ecstasy. Just as she was about to turn the classical music on, and rearrange the pore cleansing mask on her face, she heard the doorbell chime.

"Darn," she grumbled, reaching for a towel. "Oh Lily, you'd have the house all to yourself for four hours, have fun! Sure, mum. What'd you do now? Forget the keys?"

While mocking her mother in a shrill tone, she made comical faces in the mirror, patting her pore cleansing mask down.

She huddled her bathrobe together, not bothering to remove her green mask, as after all; it was only her mum.

"I'm coming," Lily snapped irritably, as her mother insistently rang the doorbell.

Making sure that the bathrobe's knot was firm, as she didn't want to be revealed to the whole neighbourhood, she clattered down the stairs.

"All right, mum!" she cried again, hurrying towards the door and throwing it open. "There, I knew you forgot the ke-"

Lily broke off her triumphant shout, and her jaw literally dropped.

"Po…Pot-Pott," she stammered, her green eyes bulging out.

"Potter," clarified the young man standing outside the door. "Although, I would prefer it if we use our first names now, shall we? Just seems a tad bit immature."

"Y-yo…you," Lily said, stumbling over her words as James smiled.

"Mind if I come in?" Potter asked, nodding to the house. Without waiting for Lily's reply, he pushed his way through and sat himself comfortably on the couch.

"Nice place you got here," he commented, as stretching himself out luxuriously.

"Wha-what ar…are you doing here, Po-potter?" Lily said, pleased that she'd managed to get the whole sentence out.

It didn't matter: James Potter was now stretching out on Lily Evan's couch.

They were hatred enemies, ever since Potter laid eyes on Lily, and decided to push her in the lake. Unluckily for Lily, the giant squid decided that she was an enemy too.

Lily had arrived at Hogwarts, soaking wet with seaweed in her hair, but that was when she too, proclaimed her hate for James Potter.

Remembering back to the days where Potter had teased her, literally drooled over her, and even stole her precious chocolate muffin she'd gotten from Jack Stone; Lily had completely no idea why he was here.

"You might be wondering why I'm here," added Potter casually, running his hand up to ruffle his hair.

"Possibly," said Lily stonily, all traces of a stutter vanishing as she remembered the _ol' good days._

"Dumbledore."

The cold exterior of Lily completely vanished, at that one word.

"Really?" she asked, leaning forward eagerly. "What about it?" Potter shrugged calmly.

"He sent me here." Lily's eyes opened expectantly.

"Really?" she questioned. "Why?"

"Oh you know," said Potter. "My parents were busy. So I've been staying with Dumbledore, but he told me to come here. Bonding with the new Head girl you know," he finished off with a wink.

Lily nodded with Potter's reason, but abruptly stopped when she heard his last sentence. "Head girl?" she breathed. "Me?"

Potter nodded, confirming Lily's goal for six years.

Lily let out a shrill shriek. "ME! HEAD GIRL!"

She started to jump around, hugging Potter, hugging her cat, and even hugging the couch.

Potter looked on, quite amused with the girl delirious with happiness, and still wearing a rather ugly green mask.

"That's fantastic!" Lily cried, her wet auburn hair frizzing up with excitement. "I love you, James!"

She hugged him again, tightly. The tall boy patted her on the head awkwardly. It wasn't everyday that the girl of his dreams came and hugged him, even though she only reached his shoulder, and told him that she loved him.

"Um, I love you too, Lily," the boy said quietly, making sure that Lily couldn't hear him.

"Oh, that's just great!" babbled Lily. "I have to go owling everyone, tell my family, oh gosh, mum's going to be so happy! Hah! You know that girl, with the bad-breath? Susan Hammertoes or something? I got Head girl! And she was so sure she was!"

"Lily?" said Potter cautiously; trying to loosen the grip she had on him.

She turned towards him with shining eyes, her arms still clasped tightly around his waist.

"Oh," she said, hastily releasing her grip as she realized it was Potter she was hugging. "Well, I'm so happy, anyway! Potter, do you know who got Head boy? Is it Jack Stone? Oh please, tell me it's Jack Stone."

Jack Stone was a boy that Lily had fancied, for a matter of five years now. Unbelievably smart, with exceeding good looks to go along, he was the only competition that James Potter ever had.

"No," said Potter with a frown. "It's not Jack Stone."

"Oh," Lily said sadly, but then regained her hopeful look. "Remus then?"

"No," sighed Potter. "It's me." Lily blinked, and blinked again.

"You?" Potter nodded.

"Well," said Lily slowly, not really wanting to hurt Potter's feelings, after all, he was the one who brought her the good news about the Head girl. "That's okay."

"Yes," said Potter brightening up considerably. "And guess what the good news is? We're spending three months together! Three whole months!" Lily gawked at him.

"Three months?" she said, her voice croaking. "Why?"

"Oh, you know," said Potter, waving his hand around carelessly. "So we can…bond."

"Bond," repeated Lily.

"Yeah. Bond. That's what I said," said Potter.

_Lalala...Cat didn't want to add any A/Ns. Well, review for us, and we'll be very...happy for you. _


	2. If the buses had seatbelts

_Chapter two of **Modern**. Eh. Enjoy it. I guess. I mean, it's I, Cat who is writing it. And we all know that NL is about 50 times better than me. So let's just pretend this chapter doesn't exist. I like that idea. _

**Disclaimer: **Why yes. We're both Billionaires with money pouring out of our laps. And we'll take over the world with fan fiction. It's called S-a-r-c-a-s-m dears. Sarcasm.

Chapter two:If the buses had seatbelts(written by your's truly)

James hand shook as he clasped around the handle of the door. His whole body began to sweat as he twisted the knob. His heart began to beat faster and faster, and as he stepped forward, the floorboards creaked. The floorboards creaked so loudly that it echoed in the hallway.

"Damn."

"THIS IS THE LAST TIME POTTER! NOT YET! I'M STILL GETTING CHANGED!"

Potter hastily jumped away from the door and wandered into Lily's room instead. He flipped through the magazines, all Time, he kept in mind, and sat down on her bed. A rather spongy feeling, he noted. He stepped over some undergarments thrown on the ground and finally stopped at Lily's bedside table. On it were photos and memories of hers, everything from her riding a horse to graduating from Elementary School. Lily wandered into her room, green mask finally washed off her face, and Potter quickly ran over to her side.

"Were you going through my stuff?" questioned Lily.

"Of... of course not!" grinned James sheepishly. Lily shook her head and grabbed her bag and left the room. James ran after her as she entered the kitchen. Lily grabbed a piece of toast that her Mum had left her and scribbled down a note.

_Nuisance… with me. Must. Take him out. Be back soon. _

_Love Lily xox_

"So… what now?" asked Lily, munching on her bread.

"We go on our quest Evans!" shouted James with glee.

"Q-Qu-Q-Quest?" stuttered Lily. James nodded and from his back jean pocket grabbed a long roll of parchment and opened it. Lily's mouth dropped as she skimmed through the list.

"But this list is so long! We'd never finish it!" gasped Lily. James shook his head.

"Remember darling, 3 months." replied James as he also grabbed a piece of toast.

"James!" Lily grabbed the toast that James had just bitten into and places it back down on the plate. "I seriously didn't think you meant that we spend 3 months…" Lily's voice trailed off as she began reading some of the tasks that had to be completed. James smiled. Lily hadn't reacted whatsoever to him calling her darling.

"But it says it right here! Dumbledore wrote it at the bottom of the note!" James jabbed the parchment causing it to rip slightly.

"Well. Ok. Let me just change this note I wrote to mum then."

_Nuisance… with me. Must. Take him out. Be back soon. Oh no. More like be back in 3 months. Head Girl Training! _

_Love Lily xox_

"So. How do we go about this?" asked Lily as she walked towards the front door.

"Err. Seems to me that we just do the tasks in order, after all they seem to be in order." James studied the fine print but got distracted as his eye noticed a weird device. But before his hands had even managed to touch it Lily grabbed them away.

"That is a telephone, and come on; I want to get this done as soon as possible."

Lily dragged James into the front yard. She tapped her foot impatiently as James studied the parchment. She watched him fumble and, then finally drop the paper.

"I get excited easily," said James sheepishly as he read the first task that had to be completed. "Oh goody! Our first task is to learn 5 facts about each other that no one else knows." Lily groaned. This wasn't going to be easy. Lily and her best friend Emily Ford knew practically everything about each other. "And it says that we have to do it while riding on a double-decker bus! Oh my gosh; I always wanted to go on one of those!"

Lily seemed to have a knack of dragging James places. This time it was onto the top level of a bright red bus. As the bus slowly started up Lily grabbed on tight to the bar. "Fasten your seatbelts James! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

"But, my seatbelts missing!"

"Buses don't have any! It's a figure of speech! Honestly James you can be so childish!" moaned Lily.

"And I love it! But what are you gonna do eh?" winked James.

"Don't wink at me like that. And don't go around calling me darling either." James' mouth dropped dramatically. "Mmm. I noticed. Don't think I didn't."

"B-b-but if we're going to be a happy married couple we have to have pet names!"

"PET NAMES! YOU'RE ALREADY CONSIDERING PET NAMES?"

"Well, there you go, one fact that you just learnt! Now it's my turn!"

"Er. Do you know I wear Orthotics?" James nodded. "I had a slug farm when I was 5?" James nodded again, but blushing this time.

"I have good hearing OK?" James shrugged.

"James, if you've stalked me half of your life we'll get no where." Lily sighed and sunk into her chair. She glanced down the street, and she saw a group of girls giggling and pointing at a few guys. She'd swap with them any time. Until her eye's focused on the group of men. Lily pointed. "Hey James…doesn't that look li-"

"CRAP! Hide me!" James dived under the chairs and did a commando roll. "Ew," moaned James from under the chair.

"What? And why'd you hide? It's just Sirius, Lupin and Peter."

"Gum! And I'm with you! They don't think I seriously like you. It's just a joke to them." Lily snorted. And clearly it was a joke to her too. She stood up and placed her hands to her hips. James needed to know something.

"You don't like me James. And I don't like you either. But if we work together we can be the best Head's Hogwarts has ever seen. Now come on. What's the next task?" Lily pulled James from under the chair as he whipped out the parchment.

"Spend one night together in camping conditions. Gear will be supplied at the following address." Read out James. "Well that seems easy enough."

"Oh no. No no no no." And with that Lily collapsed into her chair.

_CAT: Yeah. So that's the end of chapter two. What next? Well we were sort of hoping that every chapter we get 25 reviews. So to make up for last chapter we're **hoping** for 50 reviews by the time we update with chapter three. _

_Won't you be a darl and make that possible? Please? If not, well we'll be happy anyway. Anyhow, if you like, you can submit task ideas that James and Lily can do in your review. Nameless and I will pick the two we like the most and they'll definitely be used in the story. Expect around 20 tasks? One each chapter? Let's hope that's how it goes. _

_That's all! And NL will be bringing you your next chapter! So be ready for great exciting adventures. :)_

_NL: NL's lame and loves A/N. Alright. The task idea thing is a really good idea, Cat. And doesn't everyone think that Cat is a heck of a lot better writer than me? I feel jealous. Now everyones gonna go 'Cat has splended writing! Her humor, and I especially love James.' Heh, excuse my jealousy. Alright you, I'll be bringing you the next chapter. -Punches air unenthusiastically-  
Hooray for you. _


	3. If the camps had bugspray

_- Puts on an announcer voice- Its chapter three of **Modern**. Enjoy. I know you all want Cat. Too bad. You're stuck with me. _

**Disclaimer: **Cat spells sarcasm. I spell disclaimer. D-I-S-C-L-A-I-M-E-R

Chapter two: If camps had bug spray 

"All packed, Lily?" James asked, bursting into her room with a broad grin on his face.

"Ah, James," said Lily distractedly, looking down at her backpack. "I think Dumbledore made a mistake…I mean, the backpack is so…_small_. What, do you mean _you're_ packed?"  
Lily met James' eyes, glaring at him for being able to work the backpack, when she, a dignified Head girl, wasn't able to.

"Oho," laughed James, sinking down onto Lily's bed. He eyed the fluffy pillow next to him cautiously, before roughly grabbing it. "Have a seat," he said, patting the rumpled spot next to him, as if the bed his.

"Yes," said Lily. "I still don't get why _you_ know how to fit everything in that bag, though." She sighed, pointing to the small, palm sized, bright fuchsia backpack. "And that ugly colour too!"

James wondered briefly if Lily had bothered to make her bed that day, her sheets being so crumpled. She probably did though, he supposed. Lily was perfect. The wonder woman. The better than wonder woman Head girl. She most likely did make her bed.

"I don't think fuchsia ugly," James stated, his attention drifting again. "Since when did you get medals for swimming?" he asked, pointing to a corner of the room, covered with awards and trophies.

"Since I learnt," said Lily irritably. "How do you pack your bags?"

James' eyes widened. "You?" he scoffed, waving his hands nonchalantly at her. "You couldn't even swim in our first years! When I pushed you off the boat, remember?" he added, when Lily took a confused expression.

"So I learnt," said Lily, taking on a faint blush.

"Really?" said James interestedly. "You learnt? When? Right after I called an idiot who couldn't swim?"

"No!" protested Lily. "I learnt…because…I always er- wanted to! Nothing to do with you! Really!"

James smiled thoughtfully, his glasses lopsided as he tumbled off the bed. "That's not why, is it?" he said teasingly.

"Sure it is," said Lily shortly. "Now go help me with this god damn bag!"

Lily tugged on the zipper, her face grimacing as she strengthened her grip on it.  
"Just," she cried. "Close!"

"I know how to close it."

Lily spun around so swiftly, that she got a creak, sounding from her neck. She winced, and felt her neck, massaging it as she stared at James.

"Go on," she said, now eyeing James with interest. "You know how to close that god-damn backpack, huh? So close away."

James edged closer to her, his face now amused at Lily's frustrated face. He reached for her hand, beaming as Lily's eyes widened. As he moved across the wooden floorboards, he caught the hem of his jeans in a crack.

"Damn!"

James clumsily jumped up, his legs having been sprawled all over the place. "Help," he mumbled to the floor.

Lily was standing there, her fists stuffed up her mouth, to prevent her from laughing. "Gosh, James," she snorted, her shoulders shaking with laughter. "_Can you be any more_ awkward? Help me fix my backpack, now."

"It's not my choice, you know," James said indignantly. "I don't enjoy falling around, all the time."

In response to Lily's last sentence, James moved jerkily over to her small backpack, poking it angrily with his fingers. "See," he said. "You just push it with your finger, and it immediately gets larger. Get?"

Lily looked, focusing her attention on the now getting larger backpack. "Oh," she said. "I think so."

"Yes," said James smugly, feeling rather pleased that he was better than Lily in at least _one_ thing.

"Just by prodding this," Lily said, concentrating on the backpack, her fingers poking into the material. "It actually gets bigger? What charm is that?"

James shrugged, looking disgruntled. "I don't know. You're top in charms, remember?" He felt a tinge of disappointment as he remembered his last Charms test.

"Sure, sure," muttered Lily, now vigorously pounding at her backpack. "Darn! James – help!"

James chuckled, looking at the red-faced Lily tug madly on the material of the backpack, which was refusing to budge. "Gently, Lily," he offered.

"Gently, he says," muttered Lily, angrily trying to extend the size of the backpack. "Oh gently, huh? Well, fine! You got gently!"

James ignored her, now sitting cross-legged on the floor. She had pretty blue walls, he realized. Much better than the guest bedroom, she fixed him up with. His guest bedroom had funny stripy walls, heading straight down in a bright pink colour. He didn't appreciate that colour much.

"See," James announced happily, as Lily managed to poke her scruffy head out from the backpack she was trying to enlarge. "You got it! Well done, Lily, well done!"

Lily stared at him suspiciously, sweeping her hair behind her ears. "Yes," she said, not sure of why James was being so cheerful.

"Now lets get a move on, shall we?" said James cheerily, "It's already ten past two, we want to eat dinner there, don't we? The Portkey's at fifteen past three, so all in good time. I'll just go out and wait for you, as you repack your stuff."

He headed out the door, leaving Lily to repack her backpack, as all the stuff that she had crammed in before, now fitted well, leaving a lot of space for more.

Lily muttered an angry retort at his retreating back, and unenthusiastically started work of packing her backpack – again.

James hovered around the kitchen, looking at his very spiffy watch, cute little penguins on the hands, and sighed as he realized it was almost three. "Oi, Lily!" he yelled, his loud voice echoing up the stairs.

He tapped his foot, glancing at his watch every now and again, and decided that he should take matters in his own hands. James pounded up the hallway, his feet tapping noisily on the stairs. "Oh Lily!" he sang, as he skipped up. "Are you done yet?"

A head shot out from a doorway, as James thundered up to Lily's room. "Quiet!" hissed a voice. "I'm on the phone here!"

James threw a careless glance at the owner of the voice, and froze as he saw who it was. Petunia Evans. Lily had warned him about her. A nosy, good-for-nothing, stick of a girl she was, according to Lily.

"Hi!" said James brightly. "I'm James…it's nice to meet you. Petunia, is it?"

Petunia stared at him disapprovingly, her nose twitching. "Yes. Mother warned me about you. Don't have a house to live in, hm? Goodness, the strays Lily brings in these days." With that cutting remark, she ducked her head back in, her loud chatter could be heard from outside her room.

"Well," muttered James to himself. "It's nice to meet you, too."

He continued his way to Lily's room, eyeing the various portraits he saw as he went.

"Lily!" he cried, as he stood in her doorway. "Aren't you done yet?"

James scanned her room, his eyes a calm hazel. He spotted a full backpack, tightly zipped, but where was Lily? He frowned, and backed away, now calling out her name.

"Lily…?"

He was now worried.

"Lily?"

Footsteps approached him. "What?" asked an annoyed voice.

James turned around. "Lily!" he said, relief evident in his voice. "Where were you? I thought, I thought something happened! I don't know…earthquakes, a fire, even death-eaters!"

"So I went to the toilet," said Lily, frowning at him.

"Oh…oh!" said James, chuckling. "Well, that's fine then. Let's head off shall we? Apparently there's a portkey…it's rather close to your house. We could walk there."

Lily agreed, hiking her backpack on her shoulders, swaying from side to side as she straightened herself. "It's just one night, right?" she asked.

James nodded. "One night."

"Okay," Lily said briskly, her hair now in a tight and efficient ponytail. "Let's go."

They made an odd sight, the two of them. The girl with the lovely red hair, dressed in casual wear, while the boy with scruffy clothing, a ripped pair of jeans, and a very rumpled shirt.

"So where's the portkey, you say?" Lily asked, as she walked out, making sure not to tread on any flowers in the garden.

James on the other hand, appeared to have great fun of trying to _jump _over the flowers. "Pretty close. It's in your letterchain, or something. What's a letterchain?"

Lily stared at him for a bit, before figuring out what he meant. "Oh!" she said. "A mailbox, you mean?"

James shrugged. "Yeh…sure. It should be."

James continued walking out of the garden, while Lily paused at the mailbox, opening the handle. "Oi," she called to James. "James!"

He turned around, looking quite startled that Lily was trailing after him. "What's that?" he asked, as she gestured for him to come here.

"The mailbox," Lily said.

James stared at the mailbox sceptically. It had pretty trimming around the edges, with the address written in fancy, cursive letters. "17 Meredith Avenue," he read, raising an eyebrow.

"Street addresses," explained Lily. "We need them so that the postman and other people would know where to come. I'm sure that the portkey's one of the letters. What's the time now, James?"

James flicked his wrist upwards in an expert fashion. "Three O' twelve and forty-eight seconds," he told her, grinning at the expression that crossed her face as he included the seconds.

"Good," sighed Lily. "We have a few minutes left. Well, let's grab the letter, and hold on, shall we?"

James stuck his hand in the mailbox roughly, rustling for any mail. "Aha!" he cried triumphantly, as he pulled out a crumpled one. "To Miss Lily Evans and Mr James Potter," he read the address off the letter. "We sound good together."

Lily let out a snorting noise, turning quiet as James made a face at her. "Okay," she said hastily, grabbing the letter. "Hold the other side, would you?"

James clutched the letter tightly, and holding out his hand for Lily to hold, tentatively. "Oh come on," he said, as Lily gave him a disgusted look. "What if we end up separately?"

"Oh alright," huffed Lily, gripping his arm, rather than holding his hand. "We got everything? Backpacks? Yeh. You got your change of clothes? Good, what's the time now?"

James gave a quick glance at his watch. "In about twenty-three seconds."

"Good."

All of a sudden, the two felt themselves being lifted off the ground, everything now a swirl of colour. The mailbox, that James had been admiring, seemed as though it was floating off the ground, along with them, now spinning around swiftly.

CRASH!

"Ow," grumbled James, standing up from his tumble, and offering a hand to Lily, who was rubbing her hips.

"Portkey's are not healthy," stated Lily, also standing up.

"No," said James. "But look where we are."

Lily looked around, her eyes widening as she did. There were leafy green trees hovering over her, shivering lightly in the slight breeze. The cool shadows fell to her feet, giving her shade from the sun sun. There was a nice clearing spot right in the middle of the clearing, obviously camping.

But other than that…it was horrible.  
Bugs were scuttling around the sand and bark, all busy with their own work, and climbing onto heavy rocks. Just to make things worst, the heavy rocks when you lifted them. were crawling with ants on the underneath. If you relaxed, without moving, the slight breeze quickly turned to stifling air that was humid and heavy.

"How fantastic," said Lily dryly. "One whole night here, huh?"

James drew out his list from his pocket, consulting it. "Yup," he said glumly. "A whole night, from three to eleven in the morning, tomorrow." He suddenly brightened. "But _we're_ spending it, _together_!"

"I feel so happy. Really."

It was now dark, the moon looming over their heads, gleaming brightly. The owls hooted softly, and the crickets chirped. A bright light could be seen from the clearing, where James was playing with a flashlight.

Lily walked into the clearing, in her arms, a whole heap of twigs and bark. "Here," she said, throwing them to James' feet. "Is that enough?"

James tried thinking, but decided he wouldn't know. "Um. I don't know…is it?"

"Yes."

"Oh," said James, looking pleased. "Well, that's good then. Now we have a fire!"

"Do you have a match?" asked Lily, now looking not so unhappy with spending a whole day with James.

James nodded brightly, and started patting his pockets. "Oh, er, it's here somewhere," he said, not looking too anxious. "I just know it's here, it'll just take a sec."

He started removing the contents of his pocket, one by one. Out came a marble, a wad of tissues, spare battery for the flashlight, and a stick of gum.

"Oops," said James awkwardly. "I guess…I left them."

Lily glowered, trying to restrain her anger and annoyance. "You," she said slowly. "Left them?"

"Yeh," nodded James. "Left them in your kitchen counter, or something."

"That's not possible."

Lily's voice was still calm, too calm and too icy, till James started to look slightly nervous.

"Wh…why not?" James said, dreading the answer.

"WHY NOT!" bellowed Lily. "WHY NOT? What type of idiot leaves the matches at home, when they're going camping?"

James laughed edgily. "Me?"

"James, I do not believe one could be so dumb," said Lily, gritting her teeth angrily.

James shrugged in response. "Let's just try to get the fire started, yeh?"

"And how do you suppose we do that," drawled Lily. "Rubbing the sticks together, perhaps?"

As Lily was a muggle, she'd seen many comedies where a bunch of people go out on camping trips, and failed to have lit a fire, just by rubbing the sticks together. As for James, he thought that was a wonderful idea.

"Good idea, Lily!" exclaimed James, grabbing two sturdy sticks from the pile Lily had gathered. "So you just rub them, you say?"

Lily nodded ruefully, and suddenly lit up, when she thought of an idea. "Hey…James?"

"Yes?"

"Can we use magic?"

James shook his head, making a face at Lily as he did. "Naw, Dumbledore went and told us we can't…until we have er –bonded."

"Damn," snapped Lily, scuffling her foot on the ground, furiously.

She watched silently, as James started vigorously to rub the two sticks together, making no success. He rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed some more, but all was left were two sticks, that were a little roughened from the rubbing.

"I don't think I could do this, Lily," admitted James, looking at the woeful sticks in his hand. "Could you try?"

Lily made a little disbelieving noise, and moved to grab the sticks. "Next time," she said sternly, "Next time, _remember_ to bring the matches!"

She now sat cross-legged on the ground, now and then, making noises of contempt as she tried making a fire.

"I give up too," she said finally, throwing the sticks to the pile. "Let's just use our torches, James."

"Okay," went James pitifully.

As the night passed by, all could be heard was silence, Lily still aggravated with James for forgetting to bring the matches.

James swung his feet back and forth, as he sat on a low branch of a tree he had climbed, with slight difficulty. "Hey Lily?" he suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry…that I left the matches, I really am," James said, avoiding Lily's eyes and pretending that the bark on the branches were fascinating.

Lily sighed. "It's all right, James. We all make…mistakes."

"Okay. Uh, Lily? I have to tell you something…again," James mumbled.

"_AGAIN?_"

"I sort of…left the tent gear…at home…?"

To James' surprise, Lily didn't start throwing the sticks at him, one by one. Instead, Lily gave another huge sigh, and huddled her knees.

"Tell me you brought the sleeping bags, James?" she said calmly.

"Oh, I did!" replied James enthusiastically, pleased that he brought at least one thing. "It should be along with the food."

Lily gave another sigh of relief. "Good…at least we don't have to sleep on the actual forest."

"Of course not," laughed James, feeling very pleased that Lily was no longer angry at him.

"So you brought the food, James?" asked Lily, after minutes of awkward silence.

"Sure, did," said James, sliding off the tree branch self-consciously. "It should be somewhere…"

"As in where, James, where?" said Lily, looking exhausted. "I need food."

"Found it!" announced James to the whole forest, as he dragged out a pile of food from behind a tree. "Here you go, Lily."

He threw a wrapped up box in plastic bag, at Lily, along with a couple of forks and spoons that went flying past her nose. "Careful, James!" cried Lily, as she hastily grabbed the flying cutlery.

Lily opened up the box, to discover a…sandwich. "A sandwich?" she said glumly.

She was expecting something big, something hot, too. But no! She got a peanut-butter sandwich.

"Yes," said James, already munching in. "I like peanut-butter.

The two finished off their dinner, pretty quick. It was, after all, just a peanut-butter sandwich.

"I'm going to sleep," mumbled Lily, grabbing her sleeping bag and heading off to the edge of the clearing.

She was depressed. What was planned to be a nice, exciting trip to the wilderness was a flop. She decided that nothing else could upset her now.

"Good night, James," she said, as she snuggled into her sleeping bag, her head on her jacket, as they had forgotten pillows.

"Good night, Lily."

Lily slept with some difficulty, feeling a slight tinge of homesickness, she didn't even say goodbye to her mum and she was fairly certain there was a rock under her sleeping bag. James, however, sleeping was a breeze for him. As he breathed deeply in and out, he dreamt about Lily, and forgetting about feeling guilty about forgetting the tents and matches.

The night passed slowly for some, quickly for others. The owls in the tree hooted continuously, making Lily bury her head under her jacket.

"Morning, Lily," said a voice near her knees.

Lily groaned, and buried herself deeper in the sleeping bag. Her sleep wasn't too bad actually, other than that uncomfortable rock.

"What do you want, James?" asked Lily, annoyed, as James kept on prodding her knee.

"Er," said James, looking slightly uncomfortable. He shoved his hands pockets, scuffing his foot on the sand. "We don't have breakfast," he got out.

Lily blinked up at him. "Breakfast?" she said, her brain still not deciphering the message, so early in the morning.

"Yes," said James sheepishly. "Uh, the er – well, you just wouldn't want to eat it.

Lily stared suspiciously at him, and slowly removing her covers, struggled to get out of her sleeping bag. "What do you mean we have breakfast, but wouldn't want to eat it? James, if this is one of your lame excuses for forgetting to bring breakfast…"

She hurried to where the food pile was before, behind the tree.

James rushed after her. "No, Lily! You don't wanna see…" He trailed off as Lily spun around with a disgusted expression on her face.

She looked behind the tree once again, and closing her eyes, shuddered. She walked slowly away from them, because if she started running, the bugs would start chasing her. "BUGS!" cried Lily, looking almost comical, if her glare wasn't directed at James.

"Yes," admitted James. "Bugs."

"How did the bugs get in there?" asked Lily, looking outraged at James calm disposition. She eyed the stack of bugs distastefully, the ants crawling on top of the flies to reach the more peanut-butter sandwiches.

"Well," shrugged James, now looking more uncomfortable. "I didn't close the box."

Lily breathed in tightly. "Okay," she said. "That's fine. Just a few hours left…few hours left, just a few damn hours left, I can deal with that."

The odd thing was that she wasn't facing James as she said all this.

"What's the time now, James?" Lily said forcefully.

James glanced down on his watch, getting a surprise when he realized it was only five past seven. "Five past seven," he said. "Wow, I really wake up earlier when we camp out. Probably has to do with the sunlight, don't you think?"

As soon as Lily heard that it was just five past seven, her eyes took a glazed expression. "Just four hours," she whispered to herself, grabbing the left corner of her shirt tightly and fiddling with it. "I can do that…"

"So what do you want to do, Lily?"

Lily was eyeing a scorpion that was now creeping up behind James. "James," she shrieked. "Run!"

James spun around, and didn't see anything. "What?" he asked.

"Scorpion!" Lily pointed, hopping up and down on a foot.

James glance fell down to below eye level, and practically screeched when he saw a weird creature with pincers snapping menacingly, advance towards him. "Hey," he said, now getting over his shock. "What are you doing here?" he asked the scorpion, bending down.

He obviously did not know that scorpions sting people. Painfully.

"Run, James, run!" Lily cried, running backwards herself. "It'll sting you, you idiot!"

James turned around, and grinned cheerily at Lily's obvious worry. "I'll be fine, Lily."

"Move, James!" yelled Lily from a far distance, stomping her foot on the ground in anger and disbelief. "RUN, DAMMIT!"

James looked doubtfully at the small creature, but then at Lily who was flailing her arms madly, and decided to follow Lily.

"It's an effing scorpion! Get out of the way! They could be poisonous!" Lily shrieked at him.

"Poisonous?" panted James, reaching Lily. "They didn't look poisonous to me."

"Well…" said Lily, relieved that James finally ran. "Some are…I think. I did a project when I was nine, but I don't really remember."

"Psh," said James. "They're crabs! They're not poisonous!"

"Scorpions!" cried Lily, trying to get it through his head. "Scorpions! Not crabs! Now, how are we gonna get our stuff?"

James eyed the small, scuttling figure on the ground and shrugged. "I'll get the sleeping bags."

He strolled over to the sleeping bags, shook one out, folding it as he went. Unluckily for him, he didn't notice the scorpion that was peeking out at him dangerously close to his hand.

SNAP!

"Ow!" cried James, falling backwards. "It bit my arm! The stupid crab bit my arm!"

Lily gave a loud cry, and rushed over, forgetting about the scorpions. "Oh great, you idiot! I told you to be careful, they are not crabs! Not crabs! Get it? NOT CRABS! Now what am I going to do. Oh yeah. Primary school science project on scorpions. Er…James, well. I just hope this is a minor attack. Okay, okay. Keep calm. Keep calm. Shit, Lily! Keep calm, just keep calm. Okay, think happy thoughts."

"Are you telling me to keep calm or you?" asked a dry voice, as James stood up wincing, holding his arm.

"Me," replied Lily shortly. "Does it hurt?"

James rolled his eyes. "No. Of course it doesn't. That's why I'm here cringing, holding my arm. What do you think, Lily?"

"Okay, well," said Lily, trying to remember her science project. "If it's a minor attack…the pain subsides after one hour, or something. Do your armpits hurt?"

James gave a short laugh, and stared at Lily with disbelief. "My _what_?"

"No?" said Lily. "Alright." She then started patting his face, and then his throat.

"What now?" asked James nervously.

"Well, you're not swelling up, so I'm guessing it's alright."

James was lucky Lily was such a perfectionist, that she, after eight years or so, still remembered her science project on scorpions.

"Is your arm numb?" she asked.

"Slightly," winced James.

"Alright. Now all I need to do is to wash it, and then raise it to heart level. Got a cold compress, anyone?" said Lily, now smiling slightly, thankful that James wasn't injured badly.

"Well, no," stated James. "Not really. We are camping out, after all."

Lily gave a sigh. "Well, James, we need to wash your arm with soap and water. Is there any way that we would be allowed to go back earlier?"

James tugged out the ratted piece of parchment with his left hand, his right hand being in pain at the moment. "Oh…it just says the portkey would be that tree."

"Damn," groaned Lily. Then she got a brainwave. "Apparate!" she cried gleefully.

James looked at her. "Er…Lily? No magic till we 'bonded' remember?"

"Oh who cares," snapped Lily impatiently. "Apparation isn't really counted as magic anyway."

"Yes it i-"James started to say, but stopped as Lily shot him an angry glare.

"Oh, okay," he replied meekly.

"Let's go," Lily said, tugging James arms. "You do know how to? Just remember destination, determination and deliberation, alright?"

"Um," said James. "Sure."

"Good. We'll use side-along Apparation, just in case one of us forgets how."

Lily aimed her thoughts at her kitchen counter, and hastily grabbed her backpack, before she left it here. She didn't care about the sleeping bags, it was free anyway.

"Determination," she mumbled, her eyes narrowing. "Ready, James?"

"Yes."

They gave a little twirl, and jumped, vanishing swiftly.

"There," said Lily in a satisfied manner. "Wash your arm in the sink, James, and I'll get a frozen bag of peas for you to put on your arm."

James dutifully went to the kitchen sink, and started to gently scrub in his arm, cringing every now and then.

"Here," said Lily, a bag of frozen peas in her hand. "I'll just tie this in to place."

With a ribbon, she placed the bag of peas on James arm, James wincing at the mass, and tied the bag into place, using the ribbon.

"Okay," said Lily cheerfully. "We're done. And back at – what time is it now, James?"

"Half past ten."

"And back at half past ten! Gosh, I'm going to take a shower," said Lily, dumping her backpack on the bottom step of the stairs.

Just as she was nearly half way up, the doorbell rang.

DING DONG!

"Answer that, could you, James?" called Lily.

James' ear perked up at the sound. "What is it?" he asked.

Lily went flying down the stairs, her feet swiftly pounding down. "Don't worry, I'll answer it."

She went to the door, and tugged it open.

She stared. James stared. The boy on the other side stared.

"What the hell, Black?" groaned Lily, regaining back to her senses.

The boy on the other side gave a sharp squeak, and made to turn back.

"Sirius!" announced James, thinking straight. "What are _you_ doing here? Dumbledore sent you to bond with us as well?"

Sirius, the dark-haired boy, looked to the ground. When he finally spoke, his voice was tinged with embarrassment. "Er…no, Prongs. Not exactly. See, your mum and dad got a bit sick of me…and took a trip to Barbados. And they decided I wasn't responsible to stay by myself. They went to tell Dumbledore…and he told us about your bonding time. So hi! You're my babysitters."

James stared at him. "We…_baby-sit_ you? Is this our task? Do we get paid?"

"Er- yes," said Sirius. "If you check your piece of parchment, on step 3, it says babysitting. Dumbledore wants to see how you deal with kids…I suppose. First years and all. But dammit! I'm not a kid!"

With that last sentence, he aimed a kick at the doorframe.

_NL: Hello. Review, dammit. REVIEW. Let's do a cheer, shall we? R-E-V-I-E-W! Imagine pom poms. And high kicks._

_Cat: Oh my. Claps for NL. That really was something spectacular. Hehe. I get to write Sirius in. YAY! Ok Ok. Calm down Catherine. Oh Gosh I sound like Lily. Anyway. This is how it goes. _

_**IF YOU READ THE FREAKING STORY YOU MUST REVIEW. **We're sick of having barely any reviews. :( We want more! (Ok I want more. NL pretends she doesn't but in her heart she does!) MORE MORE MORE! So like. We aimed for 50 reviews last chapter. Er. That DIDN'T happen. So. We'll still aim for 75 I guess. For the theory of 25 reviews of each chapter. Please please please. I'm really begging you. I will do anything. _

_Yeah. Our goal is 500 Reviews by the end of this Fanfiction. Well personally for me its 1000. Hahaha. Anyway. That's besides the point. WE JUST WANT YOUR FREAKING REVIEWS. _

_ANDDDD. ANDDDDDDD. Whoever submits a task in their review they think James and Lily should do, and if we love it enough WE WILL USE YOU AS A CHARACTER IN MY CHAPTER. _

_Oh come on I'm begging you. REVIEW THIS STORY! PIMP US! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! TELL THEM TO COME READ THE WONDERS OF NL AND CAT._

_Ok that's all. Cat. _


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